


Sweater Weather

by MyShameAccount



Category: Homestuck
Genre: M/M, Self Harm, dreambubble
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-31
Updated: 2014-10-31
Packaged: 2018-02-23 07:54:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2540171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MyShameAccount/pseuds/MyShameAccount
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Based off of this headcanon: http://bit.ly/1E6zKqI</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sweater Weather

**Author's Note:**

> 'cause it's too cold  
> for you here and now  
> so let me hold  
> both your hands  
> in the holes of my sweater

"Karkat, your sweater is  _filthy_."   
  
Karkat jumped a bit. It was almost as if Kankri had materialized out of nowhere. He turned around to see Kankri standing behind him, lip curled in disgust. His arms were crossed, head tilted slightly upward. Karkat scowled.   
  
"What do you mean? I just washed it." He picked at the fabric, giving it a little sniff. It passed the smell test, what the hell was Kankri's problem. Kankri strode forward, tugging a bit of the fabric on his sleeve. He shook his head.   
  
"I highly doubt that you actually washed this. It feels as if you haven't taken it off in months. Tsk tsk." He chided. Karkat pulled his arm away, the frown on his face deepening.   
  
"I really don't think you know what you're talking about. My sweater is clean and you need to step off." He rolled his eyes, turning around to walk away. He had been on a pleasant walk in this particular dreambubble before Kankri had stopped to scold him for having an apparently dirty sweater. Who made him the authority on the cleanliness of sweaters? And how could he even tell it was dirty? Karkat really had just washed it, even if it was a couple days ago. His sweater was covered in pills, and it was starting to get worn out. It was a little tight around the elbows and the wrists were slightly too short. But he didn't mind, it was his sweater. Getting a new one wasn't really his highest priority. After all, he didn't even know where he could get one exactly like the one he had.   
  
Kankri's sweater on the other hand still looked brand new, slightly loose fitting and still as vibrant red as ever. The only thing that gave away it's age was that the cuff of his left sleeve was a little worn and stretched, and had two or three small holes in it. Once in a blue moon, Karkat would catch Kankri nervously chewing at it. But he thought nothing of it, until Kankri decided he was the sweater police.   
  
Kankri looked a bit irritated. "I really think you should listen to me." He seemed almost nervous to Karkat, which was unusual. Karkat just shook his head. "Fuck off, I really don't know who made you the sweater police." He pointed to Kankri's chewed up cuff, which he quickly turned up.

"That," He started, his voice slightly bitter. "-Is different." His milky white eyes narrowed a bit, but he still had that hint of nervousness that was a little off putting. Kankri tugged at Karkat's collar a little. "Do you have anything underneath that? We should go ahead and wash this now. "   
  
Karkat wrenched himself away, an expression of horror on his face. "What the fuck, I'm not taking my sweater off. I have a tee shirt underneath, but can't we do this later?" This was almost worse than getting pulled aside for another one of Kankri's long lectures that he liked to call "conversations" because he didn't realize exactly how painfully one sided they were. In the bubbles, he tended to lose track of time. Therefore his conversations became at least ten times longer, because he didn't really know how much time was actually passing.   
  
"We could do it later, but why not do it now?" Kankri's voice was even, and he took another step forward. "You should respect the fact that I'm actually trying to help you, you know. The least you could do is oblige." His tone was snide, and it pissed Karkat off even more.   
  
"I find it kind of funny that you're practically begging me to take my clothes off. Whatever happened to your little vow of celibacy? Are you finally giving up after spending sweep after sweep in these godforsaken bubbles? If you want to fuck me, you can just ask." Karkat retorted, getting a little satisfaction when Kankri's eyes widened, and his face flushed pink. He spluttered a bit, obviously a little shocked.   
  
"Of course I don't want to copulate with you. I take my vow of celibacy very seriously, and an eyelash bat from another troll wouldn't make me break it. Especially not one from you." His voice was firm again. "Instead of disrespecting me and my set of beliefs, you should just wash your sweater. It's filthy." He reiterated what he said earlier, with a little tug on Karkat's sweater sleeve.   
  
"This is fucking weird, even for you. No sane troll just goes around insisting that others wash their shirts. Can you just back off for a second? Give a guy some space, holy fuck." Karkat's tone was a little panicky, and Kankri winced. "I'm sorry, Karkat, but I really think you should just let me wash it. I would be able to get rid of the pills and everything, and it would be softer." Kankri's voice was a little quieter than before, and a little more patient. "You seem to really care about that sweater a lot, and I understand where you're coming from. After all, mine is important to me as well. Could you just trust me for a moment? I'm really not trying to be rude."   
  
Karkat still felt a bit annoyed. "You could have just said that in the first place, asshole. But whatever. Just give me something to wear while you're washing it. I don't like wearing just that tee shirt, it's kinda tight and awkward." Kankri nodded, bringing his arms up behind his neck and tugging his sweater over his head, neatly folding it up and handing it to Karkat. His pants went up to his chest, and it was still a really weird sight. He could see why Porrim insisted he wear the sweater, it was kind of unusual to look at. He stopped staring when Kankri raised his eyebrows.   
  
"Karkat. You're staring." He tilted his head to the side, still holding the sweater out. Karkat blinked, taking the sweater from Kankri. "Oh. Sorry. Thanks, yeah. I'll go change out of this, somewhere." He looked around. This particular dreambubble was similar to an Alternian neighborhood, and some of the hive doors were open. As he stood up to go, Kankri stopped him.   
  
"Why do you have to leave to change? You're only taking your sweater off. Plus, you said that you had a shirt underneath." Kankri stood up. Karkat shrugged. "Maybe I don't want to change in front of you." He wrinkled his nose at Kankri, who just crossed his arms.   
  
"That's fine, do what you will. I just don't think it's exactly safe to enter one of those buildings." He glanced at one, who's lights inside were flickering. Karkat followed his gaze, and sighed. He sat back down. "Just don't look, then." Kankri nodded, turning away as Karkat started to tug his sweater off. He had a tight black tee shirt on underneath, and he quickly scrambled for the sweater that Kankri had given him. He unfolded it, setting his own sweater beside him. Kankri's foot tapped as he waited for him, but apparently he took just a little too much time. Kankri turned around.   
  
"Are you done yet-" He cut off, mouth open slightly. Karkat hadn't put the sweater on yet, and his arms were out in the open. Kankri's colorless eyes scanned his forearms, and Karkat suddenly grew very still.   
  
"It was a long time ago." He broke the awkward silence, pulling Kankri's sweater over his head and folding the turtleneck down. He muttered something under his breath, tugging the sleeves up over his hands. The sweater was just a little bit too big for him, and he wanted to sink into it and never come out.   
  
"I was angry. Don't worry, really. It was forever ago." Kankri tried to process what he saw. On Karkat's arms, there were raised scars that flushed a dull red against the grey of his skin. "MUTANT" they spelled, each line as even and deep as the others. Silently, Kankri sat down next to him on the bench, folding up Karkat's own sweater and setting it on his lap, symbol facing up. It was uncomfortably silent for a while, until Kankri quietly sighed.

"I'm sorry." The words were foreign, at least it was to hear them spoken so sincerely. The only times he said it was when he was apologizing for potentially offending someone, and not when he was genuinely sorry. Karkat could sense how uncomfortable he was with this apology, and he shook his head.   
  
"Hey, don't be sorry. There's nothing to be sorry for. Like I said, this was sweeps ago. It's not your fault or anything. I just did it one day when I was particularly enraged by my own damn blood color. I guess...I guess I wanted to see it. To kind of confirm that it was there. And then I got carried away." Karkat felt the words tumble out of his mouth before he could stop them, despite Kankri being clearly uncomfortable with the subject matter. He remembered vaguely hearing him mention how they shouldn't call themselves mutants, and they should have at least a little pride in their blood color. He would wince whenever Karkat said the word mutant. He wondered how he must be feeling right now, having seen the word carved and scarred permanently into both of his forearms.   
  
Kankri swallowed hard, nodding. "Right. Yes, I see. I'm just sorry you felt the need to do that, even if it was a long time ago. It's just a little upsetting, to say the least. I've had similar anger over my blood color, but it's never affected me like that. It's just, ah, distressing that you would feel so strongly about something you couldn't change to the point where you would...hurt yourself over it." It was clear that he was having a hard time getting the words out, which was a little strange to see for a boy who prided himself over his use of words. He folded his hands in his lap, looking down instead of at Karkat, who just rolled his eyes.   
  
"Look, it's okay. Really. Can we just...stop talking about it? I mean I get that it's important but I really don't wanna talk about it." He seemed just as uncomfortable as Kankri, and Kankri nodded in response. It was silent for a while, until Karkat suddenly felt Kankri's arms wrap around him. He stiffened at first, Kankri burying his face into Karkat's neck. His hair tickled the bit of skin that was showing over the neck of the sweater, and he calmed down a little, eventually putting his own arms around Kankri's shoulders. This was unlike him, Karkat thought blankly to himself. Kankri was somewhat emotionless, voice monotonous and unfeeling when he would lecture Karkat. To see him react so differently to something as small as some old scars came as a bit of a shock to Karkat.   
  


He pretended to not notice Kankri's shoulders starting to shake a bit after he had held Karkat for a while. He knew that if he brought it up, Kankri would deny it and then it would get awkward. Well, more awkward. He was being held almost uncomfortably tightly by his dancestor, it was just a little awkward already. Not that he would admit it, he would probably get an earful for saying that. It was supposed to be heartfelt moment, probably.   
  
"Kankri." He said, after a few more minutes. Kankri didn't hear, he just held onto him a little tighter. Karkat moved his shoulders a little. "Kankri, I can't breathe. You're squishing me." Kankri immediately loosened his grip, pulling away. His cheeks were streaked with a little bit of red, and Karkat once again pretended to not notice. He just gave him a tiny smile. "I get that you're concerned and stuff, but it's really okay." Kankri nodded, quickly composing himself.   
  
"Yes, of course. I really do excuse my behavior, it was uncalled for. You're fine, of course." He nodded, blinking away some translucent red tears that had gathered in the bottom of his blank eyes. Karkat's eyelids fluttered shut, and he leaned forward a bit. He couldn't believe he was doing it, but his lips gently brushed against Kankri's cheeks where the tearstains were. Kankri's eyes widened ever so slightly, and he swallowed.   
  
"Erm...thank you. Yes, right. Of course. I should probably go wash your sweater now." He stood up, clutching the sweater close to his chest. "I'll be seeing you soon, don't wander off too far with my sweater." He nodded down to Karkat, quickly leaning down and brushing his lips against Karkat's cheek before briskly walking off. Karkat just leaned back on the bench, tilting his head slightly. As fucked up and broken as the two of them were, maybe they could be fucked up and broken together. He sunk down into the neck of the sweater, closing his eyes. 


End file.
